Finance Chairwoman Saw Defeat Coming In Town Election

May 07, 1999|By FREDERICK NEVIN; Courant Staff Writer

ANDOVER — Board of finance Chairwoman Susan Losee said this week she had expected to lose this week's town election because she had upset a lot of people with her stand on capping proposed budget increases at 5 percent for the next fiscal year.

Losee, a Democrat, received 442 votes on Monday, the lowest total among candidates running for a four-year term on the board.

FOR THE RECORD - Correction was published on 05/08/99.* Steven C. Reade, a Democrat, has been elected to Andover's Zoning Board of Appeals. His party affiliation was incorrect in a story on Page B6 Friday about results of the town's municipal election.

``I knew I upset a lot of people such as the firemen, the elderly, library association members and the board of education,'' Losee said Wednesday.

Losee led a board effort to cap budget increases at 5 percent to avoid using part of the town's $1.3 million surplus to balance the 1999-2000 budget. Some budget requests ran as high as 25 percent.

Losee maintained that the surplus should be used to help pay for major expenditures like renovations to Andover Elementary School and the pending RHAM school building project. Both projects are expected to materialize during the next year or two.

Of particular note is the continuing feud over the school budget. The finance board has proposed a 5 percent increase for next year, while the school board wants 7 percent. The dispute is expected to take center stage at the town budget meeting Tuesday.

Despite the loss and controversy, Losee said she would do it the same way again. ``I would never bring the taxpayers a budget I did not have confidence in,'' she said.

Losee said she thought about resigning before the election.

``I am tired,'' she said, after having spent 25 years on the board. But Democrats and Republicans encouraged her to continue. If she had won, Losee said, she would have served the full term.

Ylo Anson, a Republican who has served on the board with Losee for nine years, said he was sorry to see her lose. ``She was a very serious worker,'' he said. ``She will be missed. I'm not sure how we are going to handle [the loss of her leadership.]''

Anson said there is a remote chance Losee could remain on the board. If a Democrat were to resign from the board, he said, the town charter would allow her to fill the slot. But, Anson said, he did not think this would happen.

The winners in Monday's election, as certified by the secretary of the state's office, are: